Notes on Painted Bird

Does this novel characterize evil? What is the nature of evil from the point of view of the book? In The Painted Bird, Jerzy Kosinski’s hero, a Jewish orphan during WWII, pays witness to atrocities seen while roaming through rural, backwards towns in Nazi occupied Poland, which happen to be populated by antiquated, superstitious pagan-like townspeople. Innocence in a 6 year old hero juxtaposed against evil brutality in villainous townspeople makes the story unusually disturbing and gripping. Typical WWII tales understandably reveal the German Nazis as the true criminals and mass murderers of the time but in the story we see Polish villagers playing a similar role. The evil depicted in this book stems from a fear of the unknown or “the other”. The townspeople want nothing to do with this mysterious young Jewish boy who they characterize as an evil Gypsy and see as a threat. He is not to be trusted as they believe he carries curses that lead to death, disease and misfortune. Any young Jew’s ultimate fate during WWII, however, would typically be death in a Nazi gas chamber or by a gunshot wound to the head. The Polish villagers who hid Jews during WWII were put to death as well. The reality of this story is that the villagers are quite simply evil. Most of the people who are meant to care for the boy keep him usually only for slave work or simply make him their scapegoat to blame misfortunes on. By characterizing him as evil, “the other” threatening their way of life, they effectively relinquish themselves from the blame of their own bad behavior against anything that they deem evil. Making themselves the heroes in truly disgusting situations, which they are in fact the perpetrators of, seems to be a metaphor for what went on in Nazi Germany at the time. The Jews acted as Germany’s scapegoat. The story sadly exposes the theme that, to the tribe, “The Other” is a...

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...An obscure village in Poland, sheltered from ideas and industrialization, seemed a safe place to store one's most precious valuable: a 6-year-old boy. Or so it seemed to the parents who abandoned their only son to protect him from the Nazis in the beginning of Jerzy Kosinski's provocative 1965 novel The PaintedBird. After his guardian Marta dies and her decaying corpse and hut are accidentally engulfed in flames, the innocent young dark-haired, dark-eyed outcast is obliged to trek from village to village in search of food, shelter, and companionship. Beaten and caressed, chastised and ignored, the unnamed protagonist survives the abuse inflicted by men, women, children and beasts to be reclaimed by his parents 7 years later-a cold, indifferent, and callous individual.<br><br>The protagonist's experiences and observations demonstrate that the Holocaust was far too encompassing to be contained within the capsule of Germany with its sordid concentration camps and sociopolitical upheaval. Even remote and "backward" villages of Poland were exposed and sucked into the maelstrom of conflict. The significance of this point is that it leads to another logical progression: Reaching further than the Polish villages of 1939, the novel's implications extend to all of us. Not only did Hitler's stain seep into even the smallest crannies of the world at that time, it also spread beyond limits of time and culture. Modern readers, likewise, are implicated...

...Lift Not The Painted Veil Which Those Who Live
Lift not the painted veil which those who live
Call Life: though unreal shapes be pictured there,
And it but mimic all we would believe
With colours idly spread,--behind, lurk Fear
And Hope, twin Destinies; who ever weave
Their shadows, o'er the chasm, sightless and drear.
I knew one who had lifted it--he sought,
For his lost heart was tender, things to love,
But found them not, alas! nor was there aught
The world contains, the which he could approve.
Through the unheeding many he did move,
A splendour among shadows, a bright blot
Upon this gloomy scene, a Spirit that strove
For truth, and like the Preacher found it not.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Charlie Townsend
Post: married British vice consul
= smart, sensible and he knows very well of what’s going on
evidence – after walter walked away when he first found them in Kitty’s room, kitty was so panic but townsend knows that Dr. Fane will do nth. To cause any scandal
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...﻿‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ notes
Major themes
Prejudice/discrimination (Racism, social misfits caused by social inequalities)
Against blacks (Tom Robinson), and Boo.
Blacks VS Whites, Blacks VS Whites.
Courage
Atticus taking on Tom’s case
Jem protecting Scout
Boo saving children
Mrs Dubose freeing addiction
Growing up/education
In class
Outside class – Atticus, Calpurnia, personal experiences
Conflict
Good/evil, right/wrong: Perspective
The mockingbird motif
Tom and Boo
‘Sin’ – against conscience, against god; offence against god.
Chapter 1
Both child and adult voice. Narrative voice: child’s point of view, Adult voice: looking back at childhood.
Child’s voice: allow readers to understand and make connections the way Scout does not; Scout, being a child, also does not censor or filter out anything but only reports; she is curious and innocent.
E.g. “Maycomb was an old town… moved slowly then.”  Adult’s recollection.
Background information. Starts with ending, where Jem’s arm is broken.
Dill is only a visitor; no connection to Maycomb (or Maycomb’s adult world).
Boo Radley: Focus of children’s curiosity. Surrounded by superstitions; described bizarrely—“malevolent phantom”, over six feet tall and eats squirrels and cats. Described as a nightmarish villain but eventually is changed into a kind human being.
“The sheriff hadn’t the heart to put him in jail alongside Negroes”-page 17. This implied that jail was only for Negroes and...

...TKAM notes Chapter 17-26
(pg 166-237)
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* He speaks about the bruises on her right eye and on the rest of her body
* Atticus asked why they didn’t first call a doctor to attend Maya but no response came and he kept making sure that it was her right eye that was damaged
* Scout describes how The Ewells’s are one of the most wretched people in the county and how dirty and filthy they are and how that the only neat thing was some red geraniums that were tended by Maya.
* It is now Mr.Ewell ‘s turn to testify and he responded the questions in a un classy manner and claimed that he saw through the window what had happened and that he didn’t go after tom insisting he was worried about Mayella then he went to get Mr. Tate
* Atticus started asking questions and Mr.Ewell would not cooperate till atticus reassured him
* Atticus started asking if he could read and write and ewell was confused and the obligated to sign a paper to show that he could right and we found out he was left handed
* And that only a left handed person could have done that to Maya, which makes Jem happy that this evidence might prove Tom Innocent but scout is still doubtful “Did you not think the nature of her injuries warranted immediate medical attention?”
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...Kosinski emphasizes social change in his chilling account of the nightmares of World War II. As Hitler uproots Europe, a young boy experiences horrors unimaginable to Western civilization. Despite the unrelentless actions of the villagers toward the strange boy, the reasons for such actions changed from those of fear of the boy himself to the fear of the punishment administered by the Germans had learned about the boy living in the village.
As the novel opens the young boy is looked at with fright and uncertainty as he possesses different physical traits than his peers: dark hair, dark eyes, and olive-colored skin. The villagers are afraid of his appearance and fear that he is a Gypsy who will only bring death and sorrow into their lives. As he is thrown from house to house, he is abused physically, mentally, and sexually as an attempt to ward off the evil that he is most certain to bring. He is treated as a slave and his pondering about the cause of his owner's mistreatment of him only brings more questions to his innocent mind. The villagers are afraid of the boy and they believe that if they continually punish him, he will be too weak to summon evil.
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...﻿
The 20 Most Brilliantly Colored Birds in the World
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1. Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus)
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2. Birds of Paradise (Paradisaeidae)
The greater bird of paradise found in New Guinea has elongated flank feathers that form ornamental plumes. Bird of Paradise is a tropical bird known for the brilliant plumage of the male. They live mostly in New Guinea and neighboring islands. The brilliantly colored feathers of the male were once widely sought as decorations for women's hat.
3. Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus)
Hyacinth Macaws are native to central and eastern South America . It is the largest macaw and the largest flying parrot species in the world, though the flightless Kakapo of New Zealand can outweigh it at up to 3.5kg. In terms of length it is larger than any other species of...

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